


season of flowers

by tasteslikeciel



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: AU, M/M, Multi, also hello i ship a little bit of everything i guess haha, i bullshitted some things, running on vague MMO concepts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2018-12-05 08:40:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11574474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tasteslikeciel/pseuds/tasteslikeciel
Summary: VRAINS AU. Playmaker is an avatar created by one Fujiki Yusaku in order to fight back against a rogue group of hackers known as the Knights of Hanoi, who hold the key to his lost memories. Avatars weren't meant to function on their own, but one day, Playmaker starts thinking for himself. Yusaku can only blame the Ignis.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> PlaymakerxYusaku (with an eventual dash of RevolverxYusaku) because I am the highest form of garbage and this should surprise no one. //brick'd
> 
> Just enjoy the ride with me. We all know I write weird shit. haha

"Playmaker-sama, you're really _boring_."

In a room that had otherwise been blissfully silent, Ai's snarky comment about Yusaku's personal life (or lack thereof) comes out of nowhere. It's enough to still his hand and tear his gaze away from the monitor to quirk an eyebrow up at the little eyeball.

"So?"

Ai's single eye narrows at him in exasperation and he tuts.

"You seriously do nothing but stalk Hanoi and eat hot dogs. You don't even duel for fun! The cleaning lady has more personality than you and her A.I. is faaaaar inferior to mine."

Ai's expression turns inquisitive rather quickly as another thought occurs.

"Do you even eat anything else? It's not normal to eat only one thing, you know. Oh! And not to mention your _abysmal_ social skills. You'd think a guy with such a popular avatar would have friends other than ones and zeros."

That got Yusaku huffing. He returns to his typing with a crease in his forehead and a frown on his lips.

"I like hot dogs. Is that a crime?" Yusaku feels a bit put off by this and jumps to his own defense. This sudden conversation was absolutely ridiculous. Ai almost sounds like he was nagging. "And we've been over this. I only use Link VRAINS because it's tied to my past. That's where Hanoi operates so that's where I need to be."

Sometimes Ai spoke far too much and said things he had no business saying. It could be grating, at times. For an A.I., he was very opinionated.

"That's no excuse to act like a robot. If you're going to do that, at least be less illogical." Ai insists. Really, Yusaku isn't sure why he cares so much. Wasn't he supposed to be a hostage or something? Did hostages nag like this? "Your friends list is in the negative. You have negative friends, Playmaker-sama."

Reiterating. _He talks way too much._

"That's not true. Ai, you can't have negative friends. That's physically impossible." Yusaku defends. His brow creases just a bit more, but he doesn't look away from his work. Or, well, he tries not to but being nagged at like this was disrupting his concentration. "Be quiet."

Yusaku isn't the social type and as a result has very little contacts at his disposal. He has no friends aside from Kusanagi, no living relatives he could speak of, and nothing that could be considered a hobby outside of hacking and dueling (and one of those was illegal). It was sort of fitting, in a way. Yusaku can only assume he's always lived here in Den City, but he's practically a stranger within its walls. Without a past to call back to and nothing but vengeance on his mind, his future is uncertain. 

"Enemies are negative friends, Playmaker-sama. Besides, the hot dog man doesn't really count." Ai continues haughtily, as if he could read Yusaku's thoughts. "He's more like a business partner. You're not even the same age anyway."

"I said be quiet." Yusaku isn't about to let his temper flare up over the nonsense ramblings of an A.I., but his eye is starting to twitch and the strings of code and research windows littering his screen are starting to blur together. "Three reasons. One, I don't care what you think about my life choices. Two, I have no need for another hobby. And three, Kusanagi Shoichi is the only friend I need in my life. Things are fine the way they are."

"That's four things."

Yusaku's glare could have melted steel. " _Ai."_

Ai giggles to himself at that, but stops to hum a moment later.

"Mm, what about that Shima guy? He likes you." he says and gives Yusaku a pointed look. That drains the heat from Yusaku's gaze and forces a sigh out of him. Shima...who was that again? "Hm, maybe you could even get a lover? That's a normal activity for someone your age. You've already got a couple of prime candidates. Like Shima."

"Ai, st--"

" _Heheh._ Not that I could see _you_ with one of those. Do you even know how to be intimate with another of your species?"

Ai squints mischievously and chuckles at his own cheekiness. For some reason Kusanagi's teasing words earlier that week about Yusaku being incapable of speaking to a female rings in his ears. It was embarrassing coming from him, but with Ai saying something similar, Yusaku just feels annoyed. Ai was being a little too teasing today and Yusaku, quite frankly, isn't in the mood to put up with it. Yusaku pauses in his work and eyes the tittering eyeball with an ominous shadow cast over his eyes. His left-hand moves to hover over the volume control.

"I'm going to mute you."

Ai immediately stops giggling to himself and begins to roll around his spherical case in a panic.

"No, no, no! Don't do that again!"

" _Then shut up_. That's not a hard concept to understand."

Ai stares up at him teary-eyed and makes a sniffling sound despite not having a nose. The pixelated tears are rather pitiful looking.

_"Wuuhhhh, Playmaker-sama is_ meaaaaaan _."_

Ai's fake cries are comically bad. Yusaku says nothing about it but holds his hand just that little bit closer to the volume control. The expression on his face is nothing short of a threat. The two of them stay like this for a minute or two, locked in a stalemate both of them know Yusaku is eventually going to win. At last, Ai relents and lets out a dramatic sigh. He rolls his eye up at the ceiling. 

"Fine, fine. Have it your way, Your Highness." Yusaku retracts his hand and Ai huffs. "You have no sense of compassion for your fellow robot."

" _Ai._ "

"I know, I know!" Ai grumbles to himself and narrows his eye in annoyance. "Sheesh, what a jerk. I'll let His Highness suffer in boredom by himself then."

Ai closes his eye, turns himself up in a snooty way with another huff, and says no more. To this, Yusaku sighs in relief. _Finally_. He could continue his work in peace.

Or he should have been able to. Unfortunately, Ai is a terrible chatterbox when he has something on his mind. He knew well enough when to back off for his own sake, but he likes to tease and he likes to question. He especially enjoys doing these things when Yusaku is involved.

"Mm..."

That comfortable silence Yusaku was enjoying began to break. Ai starts off with a hum, to which Yusaku pays little mind to. But then the hum grows and Ai's inquisitive expression returns. He stares up at the ceiling and then rolls around a bit to squint up at Yusaku's monitor. It's like Ai is thinking particularly hard about something.

"Mm...Playmaker-sama?"

Yusaku represses a sigh.

"What is it now? Didn't I tell you to be quiet?"

"I'm just wondering is all!" Ai huffs and looks quite offended, but he continues with his question nonetheless. "The cleaning lady. You created her, didn't you?"

"I did." Yusaku doesn't see where the A.I. was going with this.

Ai nods to himself. "Right, right. So, her intelligence programming also was your doing, but with your skills, you could make a smarter program."

He could, but Yusaku didn't have the time, energy, or motivation needed to do something like that. All his skills went towards dealing with Hanoi and a little cleaning robot had little need for something more advanced.

"Where are you going with this?"

"Well, you're so against dragging other humans into your problems. Soooo, why don't you just _make_ yourself an ally? You know, make a program to help fight Hanoi. Like a duel partner only less fleshy."

Yusaku glances Ai's way and pauses. "...I don't have the time needed to do something like that."

"And yet you have the time to be a cyber sleuth and do all this research and file hacking business." Ai deadpans. He hmphs. "It doesn't take much to create another Link VRAINS account. With your skills, you could very easily attach an A.I. program to it."

Yusaku shakes his head and returns to his monitor. The thought honestly never occurred to try something like that out, but thinking about it for a moment quickly leads him to the conclusion that it would be a hassle. He makes sure to leave no traces of himself after logging off after each session, but with an A.I. running another account alongside him, he'd have twice as much work and twice the work meant twice as much room for error to occur. Yusaku can't afford errors in his work. As if he had the time to do something complicated like that anyway.

"I can't afford to be caught. Two accounts would increase the chances of that happening tenfold."

Ai sighs. He sounds annoyed. "Then why not just use the Playmaker avatar?"

Yusaku's fingers hesitate at that and he eyes the little eyeball curiously. His frown is uneasy.

"Why would I--?"

"Jeez, humans are so illogical. Just look at your confused face." Ai interrupts him with another sigh and shakes himself in disappointment. "Look. It's a simple concept. Give the avatar sentience and let it do all the dangerous stuff while you dictate what it does. Who better to partner up with than your own persona?"

He narrows his eye after a moment in what would have been a teasing smile had the thing had a mouth.

"Unless His Highness is afraid his own avatar might turn on him once it has free will~"

Ai chuckles to himself and Yusaku's eyes narrow. That dangerous shadow returns to his expression and he quickly reaches out to click Ai into silence.

"Muted."

Ai's eye widens once he realizes he can no longer be heard and then instantly narrows again in anger. Ai squirms around in his cage, all the while glaring up at Yusaku. He was probably screaming strings of forbidden words at him.

Yusaku smiles a little, leans back in his chair, and looks away. "Sorry. I can't hear you."

That just seems to further infuriate Ai and his eye shuts as he makes a show of struggling extra hard. Eventually, he tires himself out and settles for looking teary-eyed once more. Yusaku doesn't relent this time, however. Instead, he sighs and presses a palm against his forehead, all humor gone.

"You've given me a headache. You talk too much." For a moment his vision blurs and he takes a moment to himself to blink his sight back into focus. Maybe he should take a break? "Stay in time out for a little while. I'm going to take a shower."

Yusaku stands and leaves Ai muted at his desk, much to the A.I.'s annoyance. Ai tries to struggle to speak again, but no amount of trying manages to break him out of his muted state. He settles down and manages the eyeball equivalent of a pout.

Yusaku is a jerk. A stupid, illogical jerk! How dare he leave a poor, defenseless creature like this!

...

Maybe he could have teased Yusaku a little less, though. Not that Ignis feels guilty about it, but Yusaku doesn't make empty threats. A muting was inevitable. He supposes he could have been just a bit more considerate considering how tired Yusaku was. Still, the jerk didn't have to leave him like this! Ignis's points were perfectly logical. He's pretty sure even the hot dog man would agree. That guy, Kusanagi, didn't seem to like Yusaku fighting all alone and since His Highness completely shut down any talk of bringing more people into their fold, a non-human fighting beside them made absolute sense. What was Yusaku's deal?

Ignis turns to stare up at the monitor Yusaku was previously using. Files upon files were left open. Even a few news websites. All about Hanoi in any form Yusaku could acquire them. The guy was completely obsessed to the point he was neglecting basic human companionship needs and even standard sleeping needs. Ignis understood they were doing dangerous things, but it was stupid to shoulder so much by himself when this went beyond anything Yusaku could imagine. The guy needs help, whether he wants it or not.

Ignis continues to stare up at the monitor and lets an idea form in his mind. It's sneaky and a bit underhanded considering that what he had in mind meant going behind Yusaku's back, but he thinks it's a necessary evil. Clearly, he needs to step in and give Yusaku a helping hand (or eye, in this case) because the guy isn't going to help himself. 

His eye squints with a mischievous light. _'He can thank me later.'_

Ignis lets himself reach out into the void of cyber space and hooks himself into the Link VRAINS database. There, he quickly finds the files he needs and greedily latches onto them. Despite the encryptions and Yusaku's dedicated firewalls, their label is obvious.

ID No. 201160220: PLAYMAKER.

The avatar rests like an untouched doll, sleeping away forever in a void of digital space. When not in use, this is the form an avatar took. They sleep for eternity like a princess in a fairytale until their beloved creator logs into Link VRAINS and then they're "alive" for as long as they are in use. They live for the moment their user uses their bodies and gives them a soul of their own, no matter how temporary. It's sort of a morbid practice if you ask Ignis, but it can't be helped. Without a will of their own or a human to attach themselves to, avatars can't function. It's just how things are.

Ignis eyes the sleeping avatar with some satisfaction. In a way, this would be a punishment for Yusaku (and really, it's that guy's own fault for leaving Ignis on his desk like this with full access to his files), but ultimately this is going to help him out. Sure, he'd be mad once he found out, but he'd get over it once he realized Ignis had the best ideas.

"Time to wake up, Playmaker. I've got a job for you. It's a stubborn prince that could use a partner."

\--

The warm water feels good against his skin and the steam helps the headache brought on by Ai's incessant chatter. Yusaku leans back against the shower wall and lets his eyes close. The contrast between the chill of the tile at his back and the warmth of the water is comforting, but it makes his fatigue just that little bit more noticeable. Maybe a short rest wouldn't hurt after all, he decides. He certainly doesn't want a repeat of that fainting incident he'd had the other day. He'd overworked himself into a dizzy state and collapsed at school, of all places. The school nurse had been kind enough to let him rest in her office, but following protocol, she'd called the only emergency contact he had registered, Kusanagi Shoichi.

Shoichi had had a fit. Yusaku would never be able to erase the guilt he'd felt at making his only friend worry like that.

Yusaku sighs and lets himself relax for a moment longer before moving to turn the water off. As nice as this felt, he can't stay in here forever and he definitely can't leave Ai out there by himself. Yusaku stands, grabs the white towel he'd set nearby, and tousles it through his damp hair. Once that is done, he wraps the towel around his waist and glances at his reflection in the misty mirror next to him.

Bright green eyes are accentuated by the pale yellow tones of his skin. Pink and blue hair, still wet from his shower, catches the light and shimmers like glittering stars.

He stands out in a room bathed in monochrome and can't help the frown that touches his lips because of it.

"..."

Yusaku shifts his posture a bit and the towel flutters from the movement.

He's a bit tall for his age, has a slender build, and doesn't have much in the way of muscle. This suits him fine. He doesn't have the time nor the motivation to concern himself over body issues, but sometimes he heard comments. Whispers from classmates who thought he wasn't listening or curious stares from students that always hid a blush the moment they realized Yusaku had noticed them. The comments weren't unkind, thankfully. They were compliments, he supposes, but they were embarrassing to hear and a bit uncomfortable to deal with because he didn't want to be noticed. Not like that. He has nothing to offer back.

Despite the room still being warm from the steam, Yusaku wraps the towel at his waist a little more snuggly. Through the mist, his reflection stares back at him with tired eyes.

"...maybe a short nap." he mumbles to himself. 

It was technically already night time and anyone else would have already been in bed, but Yusaku hates spending his time at home without getting any work done. Here, it was quiet. Too quiet for his tastes. He likes being able to work in peace, but being alone in pure silence with no background hum of computers or distant chatter from people walking by is suffocating. In the silence, stray thoughts would slip in as unwanted guests, paranoia would seep like shadows through cracks in the walls, and nightmares of a white world mingled with sharp teeth would claw at his vision until he couldn't breathe. It makes sleeping at night difficult and his sleeping schedule is a little crazy because of it.

It's just too quiet at home. That is one reason he created his little cleaning robot. She provided noise to keep the quiet at bay the few times he isn't working. Yusaku isn't an untidy person by any means, but he still left a few things out here and there, just so the little bot would have something to do and he could have some kind of familiar background noise to soothe him.

But trouble sleeping or not, he has to at least try and a nap did sound tempting. Besides, being tired would impair his ability to think and he can't afford something like that. He'd learned his lesson ever since that one fainting spell a few months ago.

Yusaku grabs another white towel and throws it around his shoulders before he steps out of the washroom. The hardwood floor is cold against his bare skin and he shivers a little, but only clings to the towel at his waist and continues his trek through the house to retrieve a change of clothes from his wardrobe. When he gets there, he opens it up and settles for a simple pair of pajamas. It's a long-sleeve button up in an off-white color with matching pajama pants to go with them. He lets the towel around his waist drop to the floor and dresses himself. Afterward, he grabs the towel, discards it in a small laundry basket for the cleaning robot to get later, and then heads back towards his work area.

Ai is staring up at his monitor with an odd expression when Yusaku returns. He's not sure what to make of it but settles for thinking that Ai must still be angry with him. He walks by the monitor and reaches out to unmute the little eyeball.

"I'm taking a break. Wake me if anything pops up." Yusaku begins to move away but pauses when Ai doesn't respond. "Are you still angry? I did give you plenty of warnings."

Ai turns away from the monitor, looking a bit startled.

"Hunh? Oh!" Ai seems to remember where he is and shakes himself to indicate a no. "No, no. I'm fine. I was just uh...thinking."

"Thinking." Yusaku repeats the word with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup. Thinking. Important A.I.-only stuff."

Yusaku has a mind to be suspicious of that but decides he's thinking about it too hard. He feels a little more tired somehow.

"Mm, Playmaker-sama, you don't look so good." Ai comments, looking the teen up and down critically. His eye squints as he studies him. "I don't think I've ever seen you sleep outside of class. How unhealthy."

This again. Why was his health such a big deal to something he had essentially taken as a prisoner? Ai is all the time telling Yusaku how illogical he is but the A.I. didn't make sense himself sometimes. Yusaku shakes his head, moves away from his workspace, and moves toward his bed. He takes off the towel he has draped around his shoulders and gives his hair another towel drying.

"I'm taking a nap. Just for a little while. Try to behave."

Ai grumbles. "Yeah, yeah..."

Yusaku throws the damp towel over the bed railing for the time being and lets himself collapse into the mattress, eyes immediately drooping.

_'Maybe I should set an alarm...'_

The light of the computer monitor shines within the dark room as he rolls onto his side. It probably would have bothered anyone else, but there's something soothing about having a soft light filtering through a dark room that Yusaku likes. His body feels heavy and his eyes continue to droop until he can't really see anything but vague, glowing shapes. His previous thoughts of an alarm are forgotten. 

"Fair dreams, sweet prince~" Ai coos just a tad too sweetly.

If Yusaku had been more awake, he might have protested that teasing remark, but his consciousness has already faded so much that Ai's words blur together and he doesn't comprehend them. In another moment, he's fast asleep, oblivious to the mischievous tittering Ai is doing.

"You're really going to need the rest come morning, Playmaker-sama." Ignis pauses and hums to himself. "Mm, no, no. That'll just be confusing. Yusaku-sama works better now. ...heheh. Or maybe Yusaku-ouji-sama~? Ehhh, but that's too long."

Ignis decides he'll figure it out later and turns back to the monitor to give it a pleased hum. Nothing about it has changed, but Ignis isn't particularly looking at Yusaku's scattered research so much as he's looking beyond it and thinking about the future. Yusaku is a thorn in his side, but between him, the Knights of Hanoi, and whoever else wants a piece of him, Yusaku was the lesser of the evils. The guy is mean, incredibly stubborn, has terrible social skills, and sleeps less than a robot, but for a human...yeah. Yusaku is an alright guy.

Ignis closes his eye and lets himself get comfortable. He decides that he'll let Yusaku sleep uninterrupted and take a nap himself to pass the time. He's done a lot of work in the time Yusaku had been in the shower and at this point, he can sit back and let the program finish its installation without constant surveillance. Ignis was no stranger to rewriting code on the fly. He might have a bit of a gap in his memory but he knows he's done stuff like this many, many times in the past. An empty shell like Playmaker with silly doll programming was hardly a challenge.

Link VRAINS avatars, despite the upfront appearance of their code, did, in fact, have a very basic intelligence program tied into them, but it only went as far as login confirmation. Ignis used that as his opening and completely gutted this from Playmaker's code. He rewrote it into something better suited to the avatar's nature while still leaving room for self-learning and personal growth. Playmaker would be better than Yusaku ever dreamed of. A perfect dueling partner. Ignis even added a few extra perks Yusaku would likely yell at him for later, but that was all part of the fun. Everything was in place, but now Ignis has to play the waiting game because his work isn't complete just yet. The program he's running needs time to finish reconfiguring data, but that is something Ignis doesn't need to be awake for.

"When he wakes up, I'll give him a rundown of how things are going to work." Ignis tells himself. He isn't directing his words at Yusaku. "I wonder how things will turn out, Playmaker-sama~?"

By morning, Yusaku would have his whole world turned upside down. Ignis is looking forward to that with a mischievous gleam in his eye and a ball of excited energy in his digital heart.


	2. Chapter 2

"This way."

The hand around his tightens as the two of them dash through various identical rooms and run through hallways that all look the same. Yusaku tries his best to keep up, but his legs are shorter than the other's. If it wasn't for their hand wrapping so securely around his, he'd have fallen behind a long time ago.

"Found you!" A shout from behind startles them both. A glance reveals an adult in a lab coat running after them and the two duck into a nearby room to try and escape them. "Stop right there!"

The room they dash into is filled with smoking machines easily five times their height that crackle with electricity and ooze a black slime. Charts and clipboards are scattered all over the floor and someone wearing a burnt lab coat is slumped over a big computer terminal. They aren't moving and there's a brilliant red pooling underneath them. Yusaku's eyes widen at the sight and his steps slow, but his friend already senses where this is heading and pulls him in a different direction.

"Yusaku, don't look."

Yusaku tries and averts his eyes, but the image follows him even as they exit the room.

There are anguished screams echoing behind them. The flames they can't seem to escape lick at the monotone walls, turning pristine, sterile white into a charred, melting black. The lack of windows in this part of the facility allows smoke to collect along the ceiling and spread across the floor with ease. The more they run, the quicker it seems the smoke spreads. The fire is devouring all the oxygen and it's getting harder and harder for them to breathe.

"Mnh..."

Yusaku wants to say something, but words catch in his throat. *** continues to pull him through hallway after hallway in a desperate attempt to lose both their pursuers and the spreading chaos behind them. *** never once lets go of Yusaku's hand. Their grip tightens when they need it to and loosens when they think it's hurting Yusaku, but no matter what obstacle the two of them run into, be it one of the lab coats with glinting eyes or a guard with an itchy trigger finger, they hold on and refuse to leave him behind. 

In place of the words he can't voice, Yusaku decides to bite his lip and squeeze ***'s hand in return. He's not sure he's ever been this frightened before.

_"Think of three things to keep you going. It can be anything. Whatever you have to believe in to survive, do it!"_

Calm words flit through his mind as if in reminder. 

Three things. That's what *** told him to do. It seems like such a long time ago that Yusaku was still struggling to pick himself up off the ground, but then someone reached down into his cage with a calm voice and told him, in earnest, to live. For the first time, instead of the pitying looks, disappointed frowns, or odd moments of eerie praise that left a sick feeling in his belly, he was told he had a chance at a life that wasn't this. It left Yusaku in awe and he instantly became enamored with that voice and eventually the one that voice belonged to. *** always makes him feel normal.

Suddenly, something explodes in front of them and blocks their path. *** is quick enough to avoid the two of them being maimed and pulls Yusaku into yet another hallway to avoid the explosion's aftermath. Unfortunately, that hallway is a short one and leads into a dead end.

"Tch." *** stops and pushes Yusaku back a little so they can peek back around the hallway's corner. They let out a breath of relief after a minute of watching and pull away to lean back against the wall. "I think we can rest for a sec. I don't see anyone coming."

*** squeezes Yusaku's hand to reassure him before they let go and rub at their eyes with a weariness someone of their age shouldn't have had. They seem pretty tired and Yusaku eyes them with a growing sense of unease. His tiny hands twist into his over-sized sleeves. He feels like he could cry, but tries not to because that wouldn't help either of them.

"...what do we do?" Yusaku finally finds his voice and quietly speaks a question that's been on his mind. He feels a bit lightheaded from the thinning oxygen and his legs tremble. He shifts his gaze to stare after the spreading flames in an awed sort of horror. "...you said to think about three things, but...I don't know what to think about right now. Are we--"

He cuts himself off to rub at his eyes with his coat sleeves and doesn't finish. He doesn't want to cry. He definitely doesn't want to cry, but this is a lot to take in and a lot to deal with and he's just so scared he doesn't know how else to react. Would he and *** even be able to make it out of this alive?

A breath leaves *** and they move closer to Yusaku.

"Hey, you don't have to cry, Yusaku." *** reaches out to place a hand on his shoulder and squeezes. There's a tired but amused smile in their voice. "It's okay. It's really, really okay! I'm here, right? No one is gonna take you away from me again."

***'s voice sounds odd at that last part. Yusaku looks up from his sleeves, expecting to see that smile he's become accustomed to, but steps back a little and makes a small, startled noise at what he's met with. The fingers clutching his shoulder suddenly dig into him and it hurts. *** lets out a short giggle. The room feels much colder and quieter all of a sudden.

"It's okayyyyy?" *** reassures him in a broken drawl and steps closer. Yusaku's eyes widen. "Yu? Saaa? Kuuu?"

Instead of a smile or a warm look or anything kind or gentle Yusaku could calm his nerves with, there's nothing there.

*** doesn't have a face.

\--

Yusaku awakens with a start. 

"?!"

His fingers are clutching his bedsheets as if something would suddenly spirit him away and he pants, breaths loud and shaky. He doesn't move but stares at the wall his bed is pushed up against with wide, watery eyes. He tries to collect his thoughts and calm his frantic heart, but an eerie feeling tickles at his spine. It feels like someone is standing behind him, watching and waiting. He swallows a lump in his throat and waits until he can work up the nerve to make himself move. When he feels he's ready, he quickly flips around in preparation of confronting whatever has snuck up on him, but when he turns, there's nothing there.

_*** doesn't have a face._

Yusaku blinks and his emotions twist in a cycle of confusion and uncertainty before reality finally catches up with him. He releases a breath he didn't realize he held and a shaky sigh spills out of him. He slumps into his pillow, feeling absolutely silly. Of course there's no one here. It's just he, his cleaning robot, and Ai. What is he getting so worked up over?

_"Yu? Saaa? Kuuu?"_

Those garbled syllables of his name, spoken in alternating pitches like the sound of a glitching sound system, flit through his mind. That voice belonged to the one in his scattered memory that he treasures so highly, but it was distorted and nightmarish. Not at all like how he remembers it. 

He stares at the opposite wall, brows pinching and eyes glossing over in unease. 

"...why now?" He quietly asks himself and closes his eyes. He rolls onto his back, presses the back of his hand against his forehead, and waits for his heart to calm down.

He's had that dream before, but not in a long time. Not in a very, very long time. He frequently suffers from nightmares of his forgotten past and has ever since he was young, but they aren't such crippling bothers as they once were. That dream in particular, the one where his special person stood without a face and spoke in nightmares, hasn't been a thing for years. That smooth expanse of skin with vague sunken in bruises where the eyes and mouth should have been terrified him as a child. He remembers crying a lot in the hospital over it and spending a lot of time forcing himself to stay awake so he didn't have to see it. It was...a very difficult time.

Why did he have that dream again after so long? Could it be some kind of omen?

"Bee-beep? Master Yusaku, good morning!"

Yusaku's eyes open and rolls over again to see his little cleaning bot holding that towel he threw over his bed railing earlier.

"Good...morning." he replies slowly. He blinks and repeats himself with a touch of confusion. "Morning? How long was I asleep?"

"It is currently 7:29 AM." the bot provides. Yusaku slumps again and laments never setting that alarm. So he slept all night after all... "Beep? Master Yusaku should get ready for school. School begins in 31 minutes and 27 seconds."

Yusaku isn't sure he feels up to going, but skipping for no reason would be a poor decision. It would make Shoichi worry if he suddenly appeared at the food truck sans a school uniform. Maybe...he should talk to him about his dream, though. Shoichi always did insist that Yusaku could talk to him about anything. Especially about his nightmares. Nightmares can't hurt you once you poke holes in them, he always said.

"Mm. Thank you."

The bot beeps in satisfaction and makes off with the towel she held. Yusaku briefly wonders if he left her enough to do, but shakes his head at the thought a moment later. He really should have set an alarm. Ai never even tried to wake him.

Wait. Ai? 

Yusaku suddenly remembers that he left the A.I. at his desk. He really must have been exhausted to do something so careless. Yusaku pushes himself up into a sitting position and calls out to the little eyeball.

"Ai?"

"Gooood morning, sleepy head!" Ai chimes in almost immediately, eye closed in his best imitation of a smile. He sounds so chipper that Yusaku can't help but stare. "Jeez, you slept like a koala. I wasn't sure if you were ever going to wake up."

"And why _didn't_ you wake me up?"

Ai tuts and squints his eye in a way that suggests he's raising an eyebrow. "Do I look like a maid to you? Wake yourself up. Besides, have you looked in a mirror lately? I did you a favor."

Yusaku narrows his eyes. It's too early to feel this annoyed, but Ai is talented. "Were you just going to let me oversleep and miss school, too?"

"Yup!" There's no hesitation in Ai's response.

"..."

"What? Don't give me that look!" Ai's tone is indignant. He turns away a little and eyes Yusaku warily. "You're a human, aren't you? A.I.'s don't need sleep, but we can do it recreationally. You, on the other hand, have to or you'll just be a useless sack of meat. So stop being a jerk and just sleep like a normal human."

"..."

Yusaku stares at him for a moment longer before throwing his legs over the side of the bed and running a hand through his hair. An image of that faceless monster from his dreams flashes through his mind and he lets out a quiet sigh.

"Maybe if I was normal..." he quietly says to himself.

"Eh?"

Yusaku shakes his head and stands. He walks over to his monitor with the intention of closing everything he left open but pauses and stares when he realizes something about it looks amiss. Mainly, everything he left open during the night is gone. He immediately pins Ai with a suspicious stare.

"What did you do?"

Ai rolls himself around to glance up at the monitor and squints.

"Hunh? _Ohhh._ That." He nods to himself. "It's sensitive material, right? Don't worry. I saved everything important."

Yusaku isn't sure what to say to that. He really dislikes the thought of someone messing with his work without his knowledge. His expression must mirror his discontent because Ai grumbles and sounds almost offended as he continues to talk.

"Jeez, ungrateful human... I've got no reason to delete your files! I just closed them."

"I never asked you to close them."

Ai rolls his eye up in exasperation and sighs. "Just go get ready for school, you stubborn koala."

Yusaku's cheeks puff out a little in a very rare and likely never-to-be-seen-again pout. He double checks everything just to set his mind at ease and after confirming that Ai did indeed save everything, he shuts his computer off and picks the duel disk confining Ai up.

"...thank you." 

He's reluctant to say as much, but as much as he doesn't like the thought of Ai doing things behind his back, he supposes the A.I. was only trying to help. Nothing ended up damaged and had Yusaku been less sleepy last night, he would have saved everything himself. Just this once, Yusaku would let it go.

"But you're staying up here until we leave." Yusaku continues with a hard look. He moves to place Ai on the special shelf he had for him. "I don't like having my computer used without my knowledge and my files even less so. Don't do it again."

Ai makes a rather loud, disgruntled whining noise, but Yusaku isn't affected whatsoever and leaves him to get ready for another day at school.

\--

"Yusaku-sama, you're actually eating something that isn't a hot dog?" Ai sounds mildly astonished and perhaps a bit pleased? "A slice of untoasted bread isn't very nutritious, but I guess that's a start. Maybe there's some hope for you after all~"

"Shut up." Yusaku replies and bites off a piece of his bread. He ran the risk of being late for his first class so a slice of bread was the quickest breakfast solution. "I can eat whatever I like. Why do you care about my diet?"

"Because." Ai says matter-of-factly, as if the answer is obvious. It isn't and when that becomes apparent, Ai elaborates. "A hopeless guy like you could use my expert advice~"

Ai gives a self-satisfied chuckle. Yusaku takes another bite of his bread and stares ahead at the other students milling about the courtyard. He looks thoughtful.

"Or I could delete you after school."

Ai bristles. " _You're so rude! I hope you choke on that bread, you stupid jerk!_ "

There's a chime of robotic "that is a forbidden word" voices nearby and a curious student or two turns Yusaku's way at Ai's shout. Yusaku is quick to shush the little eyeball and avoids the gazes of the students altogether. Although Ai is still fuming, he quiets down and settles for glaring at everything they pass. He eventually speaks again after a brief moment of silence has elapsed between them.

"Hey, Yusaku-sama."

His tone sounds a bit more serious than it did before, but Yusaku doesn't want to hear any more of his teasing remarks. He pops the final piece of bread into his mouth and turns Ai down before he has a chance to start. 

"No."

Ai makes an angry, strangled sound. "You know what? Fine! I'm not speaking to you!"

Yusaku has the decency to look slightly amused by that. "Is being silent even in your programming?"

Ai makes a very childish noise (like he's sticking a nonexistent tongue out at Yusaku), but surprisingly he doesn't say anything more. When Yusaku checks, the little eyeball has closed his eye in a refusal of even looking at him. 

Yusaku shakes his head. So. Loud, nagging, and childish. Odd character traits to program into something no bigger than a stress ball, but Ai must have an equally odd creator. Oh well. At least he's quiet now.

Yusaku enters the school building and heads to his first class with a yawn. Despite the night's rest, Yusaku still feels somewhat lethargic. It's silly how sleepy he could feel even after getting extra sleep (i.e. more than 2 or 3 hours), but that might be his nightmare's fault. Judging by the way he was twisted into his sheets and short of breath upon awakening, Yusaku hadn't slept well at all. He can probably have a nap during class, though. His grades are fairly high so teachers generally leave him be. Sitting on the back row also helps avoid being noticed.

"Hey, Fujiki! Mornin'!"

A short, stocky guy with green hair approaches Yusaku with a hand raised in greeting. Yusaku pauses long enough to recognize the form of...well, he's definitely a person. Probably one of Yusaku's classmates? He's wearing the school uniform at least. Yusaku definitely recognizes his face, but a name escapes him. 

"...mm." Yusaku hums in response for lack of a response to give. He thinks this might be that one person Ai was talking to him about last night. "...hi." 

The student frowns a little and eyes Yusaku suspiciously. "You didn't forget my name again, did you? Sheesh! How bad is your memory? We just talked like yesterday!"

Yusaku's pretty sure they didn't, but a name finally clicks the more the other talks. This is the same person who woke him up the other day after class had ended (and the same one who kept trying to talk to him every day since for some reason).

"Shima." Yusaku says, to which the student brightens up at. A correct guess then. "I remember you. You insulted my deck the other day."

Shima gets flustered at that and looks away with a slight blush. "Y-yeah. Uh, sorry 'bout that..."

"It's fine." Yusaku waves the apology off. The reaction he'd received had been understandable. A fake deck he never put any heart into would garner at least a few judgmental looks. "No hard feelings."

"R-right..." Shima scratches at his cheek and tries to continue the conversation. "Sooo...I haven't seen you at our club since last time. Just cuz your deck is a little... _different_ doesn't mean you can't stick around."

"I'm not really much for clubs." Yusaku adjusts the bag hanging from his shoulder and continues his trek into the classroom. Shima follows without any prompting. "I was just--"

"You like dueling, right?" Shima interrupts and pokes at Yusaku's duel disk. Ai amazingly offers no complaints. He really is sticking to that no talking thing. Amazing. "I mean you _have_ to if you carry that thing around. You should come back with me after school!"

Yusaku frowns a little and stops at his desk to set his bag down. "I...uh, I'm really not in--"

"Aw, come on! Duel Club isn't so bad and, hey, Zaizen's even back!"

Yusaku blinks and looks a little surprised by that. "She is? ...is she alright?"

Zaizen Aoi. He hasn't heard much about her since the incident with Blue Angel and the Hanoi virus. She'd been hospitalized shortly after being found unconscious on the school's roof (by Yusaku, no less), but there were rumors she had been released due to her health improving.

"Yup! Just came back yesterday, as a matter of fact. If you swing by the club room later, you can see for yourself." Shima sets his hands against his hips and glances up at the ceiling in thought. "Actually, she kinda asked about you? It was a little weird. She asked the same thing you did just now. You know, about if you were okay or not?"

Yusaku's brow creases at that and his uncertain frown grows. Something about that doesn't sound right...

"Me? Why?" 

Shima shrugs and doesn't seem bothered by it. "I dunno, but she had this worried look on her face. Never seen that before."

"Worried..."

Yusaku can honestly say he doesn't know what to make of that. Last time they officially talked (i.e. not in cyber space), she misunderstood something, got a little angry, and ran away from him. Yusaku isn't after friends or favors so, really, that was fine, but now that she's back she claims to be concerned for him. Why? She knew nothing about him. Yusaku doesn't even know anything about himself so how could she?

"Did you guys have a fight or something?" Shima asks. He shrugs after a moment and shakes his head. "Anyway, definitely think about coming to the club later."

Yusaku isn't listening and doesn't notice when Shima leaves to go to his own desk. He continues to stand and stays lost in thought because something feels wrong. The classroom suddenly feels very stifling. He could sense discontent in the air and it made his stomach flip.

Zaizen Aoi has no reason to feel concern for Fujiki Yusaku. The very idea of it contradicts all the facts of their nonexistent relationship. They aren't friends. They aren't lovers. They can hardly even be called acquaintances. Could this have something to do with the virus Hanoi implanted in her? But even that makes no sense. It only does if..if Hanoi knows who Playmaker is.

"Wha? I-it's Hanoi!"

There's a startled shout from Shima and it snaps Yusaku out of his musings. All eyes are instantly on Shima as he fumbles with a video device that's playing a live broadcast. There's a flash of white and gold.

"I tooooold you." Ai chooses this moment to speak up in the most patronizing tone he can muster. He hmphs. "But did you want to listen? Noooo."

Yusaku brings his arm up so he can properly level the little eyeball with a glare. " _Ai._ "

Ai matches Yusaku's glare with one of his own. "Don't blame this on me! _You're_ the one who decided to be a jerk!" 

Yusaku hates having a hostage. He hates everything about it. Next time, he's leaving Ai at home. Maybe for a week. Maybe for forever.

"You never--...just shut up and let's go. We don't have time for this."

Yusaku grabs his bag and is almost out the door when Shima shouts again.

"Wah! Playmaker's here, too?!"

Yusaku freezes. That eerie feeling from this morning returns to him.

Play...maker? _What?_

Shima makes an excited little noise but then immediately groans in despair afterward. "Man, why does this have to happen right when class is about to start?"

Yusaku turns and stares at Shima like he's seen a ghost. 

"That's not..."

He tries to reassure himself that it's a mistake. Link VRAINS had its fair share of copycats, but one taking on Hanoi? Were they crazy?

"Wow, he's pretty good." Ai comments. He sounds oddly pleased for no reason and chuckles. "Already going after the bad guys. I have a magic touch~"

Yusaku suddenly remembers the weird topic Ai brought up last night and pins him with stare.

"Ai."

"Hmm~?" He hums out a response, but Yusaku's stare is so intense and scary looking that Ai shrinks back a little. "Jeez. You look like someone murdered your favorite stuffed animal."

"Last night and this morning. You were acting strangely." Yusaku continues. He slips out of the classroom but keeps his arm held up so Ai stays within his sight. "You wanted me to destroy my avatar."

"Make better, not destroy!" Ai sounds incredibly annoyed and rolls his eye. "Yusaku-sama, you're smart, but you can be pretty dense sometimes."

"That's not the point and you know it. _What did you do?_ "

Ai makes a show of thinking about Yusaku's question. "Mm...do what?"

Yusaku stops in the middle of running up a flight of stairs. If he had the ability to delete Ai then and there, he thinks he might have done it because he's unreasonably angry and he's not sure if he even has a right to be. For all he knows, whoever Shima saw is a fake and Yusaku is getting himself worked up over nothing, but Ai is really not helping matters by withholding information like this.

He doesn't know what sort of expression he has, but Ai looks relatively unnerved by it. The little eyeball clears his nonexistent throat and sounds much less teasing.

"Okay, okay. _Look._ Don't freak out."

"I'm already doing that, Ai."

Ai gives a weak chuckle and looks away. "I can see that...but, look. Just listen to me. This is very important, got it? Mm, maybe you should sit down for this, though."

Yusaku's grip on the stair railing tightens.

" _Just explain._ "

"Alright, alright! Jeez... So." Ai rolls his eye back to pin Yusaku with a serious gaze. "Remember that conversation we had last night about the avatar? I might have--well, okay. I _definitely_ went through with that idea."

"You did what?"

"It wasn't hard to do." Ai continues. "Doll programming is easy to reconfigure. Honestly, you could have done it yourself, but it's whatever. I did a pretty good job."

Yusaku opens his mouth to give some kind of response. What, he isn't sure. He thinks he could yell or maybe even toss Ai out the nearest window, but his words choke and he does nothing more than press a palm against his forehead. He can feel another headache building.

"Hm, Yusaku-sama, you look a little pale."

"..."

Yusaku doesn't answer. He's feeling sick all of a sudden. Is this really happening? Maybe he's still dreaming and this is just part of the nightmare? 

Ai hums to himself again and his eye squints in thought. It widens again rather quickly as he brightens up.

"I got this. Gimme a sec here...mm. Where is it? Not there. Hmm, not there either..."

"Ai, just stop." Yusaku says with a sigh. His grip on the stair railing finally loosens. He wants to think about this rationally. He _needs_ to think about this without losing his mind. "You've done enough damage."

"Just wait a second! I'm gonna patch you through so--oh! Found it!" Ai gives his own little eyeball version of a smile. "Hey, Playmaker."

"Ai, I sai--"

"Yes, senpai?" A voice that isn't Ai's filters out the duel disk's speakers. It's remarkably similar to Yusaku's own, but there's a digital undertone to it that's similar to Ai's. "I'm a little preoccupied at the moment."

"Oh, I saw! You work pretty fast. Keep up the good work~" Ai nods to himself with a bit of pride. "Buuuut I've got a certain someone here I think you should talk to right quick~"

"Oh?"

"Ai, what is this?" Yusaku tries again. This whole situation is ridiculous. He didn't wake up prepared to deal with this today. Not at all. "Do you enjoy tormenting me?" 

Ai tuts and mutters something about Yusaku being a drama queen.

" _Oh._ " The voice that sounds like his own repeats himself with a pleased breath. When he speaks again, warmth spills from his voice. "This is unexpected, but good morning, oujisama. My name is Playmaker and senpai has tasked me with the job of being your knight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't normally use romanized Japanese words in my writing, but some things just don't have the same effect when translated into English. Really, the only ones you'll see aside from names are the honorifics Ignis uses for Yusaku and the name Playmaker used for Yusaku. I did try to write it in as just "prince", but it lost a lot of the feeling I wanted so I decided to use "oujisama" instead.
> 
> Also, yes. This does vaguely follow canon. It won't fully, tho. I'm hoping by the time I get to later chapters that Revolver's IRL name will be revealed, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it haha


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you all thought this was a dead fic and I had either forgotten or abandoned it. WELL SURPRISE, I didn't. lol 
> 
> Honestly, I wanted to wait for more of the canon plot to be revealed (and also for Revolver/Ryoken to show his goddamn face) and, I did set it aside for a good while, but I'm back with it after taking some time to reconfigure the plot I had in mind for this. It's still going to be AU, of course. I feel more at ease with the plot so gonna be active with this story again. I might go back and edit previous chapters just a little, but I'll let you know if I do.

"Fujiki?" Shima raises an eyebrow at her. "What about him? He hasn't come back to the club since his first visit, as far as I know."

Aoi frowns just a little and looks down, fingers steepling. "I see..."

She can't say she never expected to hear it, but it's still disappointing because that makes things a bit harder for her. She's only seen Fujiki Yusaku a handful of times and each time he gave off the distinct impression of being a loner (and a bit of a shy one at that). After seeing his out-of-place deck and the quiet way he interacts with others, she thought maybe they were a little alike. He's a curious boy and now that she's awake and out of the hospital (and under strict orders to stay out of Link VRAINS), she wants to know more about him.

And most importantly, after the things she's seen while in the depths of her forced coma, she wants to know if he's okay.

Shima is fidgeting uncomfortably when Aoi looks back up. 

"Shima, can I ask a favor of you?"

If anything he fidgets more but gives her a nod regardless. "Uh, sure. W-what is it?"

Aoi taps her fingers together and her frown deepens. Perhaps this is something she can just do herself, but after the way she and Yusaku parted ways last, she's not sure how to approach him again. If he had still been coming to the club, then she could have spoken to him there, but that isn't the case. He's a hard person to find because he disappears so much, but he and Shima, they knew each other already, didn't they? Really, there's no one else she can ask.

"You're his friend, aren't you?" she starts.

Shima almost nods but stops just short of it. He takes a moment to think and then gestures at the air with a shrug.

"Sort of. I mean, I'm working on it."

Aoi raises her eyebrows at that but gives no further comment.

"Well, can you talk him into coming back to the club? There's something I need to discuss with him, but we don't share any classes."

Shima snorts and seems to find something amusing in that. "What, do you like him or something? Gonna confess?"

Aoi gives him a strange look and her head tilts. "Confess?" 

"I-I mean, he's not bad looking." Shima's cheeks light up and he looks away, a bit flustered. "Kind of cute, I guess. ...when he's not talking down to you anyway."

Aoi's lips form a little "o" shape and she looks surprised for a brief moment before appearing thoughtful. "Oh...well, I suppose he is, but no. It's nothing like that. It's..."

What should she say? Maybe approaching him under the guise of a crush isn't a bad idea, but she has enough unwanted attention from classmates over her relation to SOL Tech. She doesn't need something like this hanging over her head as well.

" _I dreamed about him while I was in the hospital_ " isn't something she wants to openly discuss with anyone except Yusaku anyway.

"I was told he was the one who found me unconscious and called an ambulance." she settles for instead. "I wanted to thank him...and apologize."

It's Shima's turn to give her a strange look. "Apologize for what?"

Aoi chooses not to answer and taps her fingers together again. "Can you do it?"

Shima's lips twist into a kind of pout and he hums, a hand coming to rub his chin. He looks somewhat unwilling, but Aoi has done a lot for the club in pursuit of making friends. That shiny new tech strapped to Shima's wrist is purely because of her connection to SOL. Maybe it's kind of selfish to think this way, but the least he could do in exchange is help her talk to that Fujiki boy as a little favor.

"I dunno if he's gonna listen or not. That guy can be real stubborn, but I'll give it a shot." Shima says at last and it softens Aoi's frown considerably. Trying is all she can ask of him. Besides, maybe if Yusaku hears that she's looking for him, he'll seek her out? "No promises that he'll listen, though, okay? It's like talking to a wall sometimes."

"That's fine." Her hands fall to her sides and her tensed shoulders relax. This is enough and she smiles a little to show her gratitude. "Thank you."

 

\--

 

Yusaku's eyes narrow. 

"Senpai? You?" he questions faintly.

That earns a disgruntled noise from Ai, whose expression is incredulous. 

"Out of everything, you question that?" Ai makes a show of rolling back in his dome case and sighing dramatically. "Jeez, I went through so much trouble to get our roles right and you don't even comment on it. You're so frustrating sometimes."

"I'm frustrating? What about _you_?" Yusaku rounds on him with a pointed glare. "I told you not to mess with my files and what was the first thing you did?"

Ai hums. "To be fair, Yusaku-sama, this happened before you banned me from the computer."

"...I'm telling Kusanagi." Yusaku decides. He doesn't miss the way Ai stiffens. "You're being banned from everything."

"...e-even talking to the cleaning lady?"

" _Everything_."

Ai rolls back to pin Yusaku with a glare of his own. "Don't be such a grouch! You weren't helping yourself so I just did it for you, you big jerk! Friends can help friends. Isn't that right, Playmaker? Tell him!"

There's a bit of silence on Playmaker's end that is only broken by his quiet "uh".

"We are _not_ friends and stop telling my avatar weird things. You--" Yusaku pauses, realizes he's being too loud, and takes a moment to let his anger lessen before continuing in a quieter tone. "Ai, you're being too loud so shut up."

Ai makes a pitiful little grumble, but Yusaku ignores it and glances around the stairwell, suddenly feeling incredibly exposed. The other students and the teachers should all be in their classrooms by now, but paranoia is seeping into his bones and he feels unsafe standing out in the open like this. What if someone hears them? What if someone already has? He moves again to continue climbing the staircase, eyes darting around for any telltale signs of another's presence. Nothing seems out of place, however, and the only other sound he hears is that of his own echoing footsteps. 

"...oujisama?" Playmaker ventures, hesitation in his voice. "Were you not...aware of this arrangement beforehand?"

"No." Yusaku snaps. He sounds more irritated than he means to and sighs. "Ai went behind my back after I told him not to do anything."

"...ah." There's a short pause as Playmaker clicks his tongue, displeasure apparent. Yusaku can't see his face but he imagines there's a frown on his avatar's lips. "I see...mm. Excuse me for just a moment, oujisama. I need to take care of something." 

There's a small blip as Playmaker goes silent and Ai mumbles something about Playmaker's side of the call being muted. 

' _He's fighting that Hanoi knight_.' Yusaku muses and tries not to feel too concerned about it. Tries. ' _Can he duel on his own? What happens if he loses? Ai is right here so they can't take him, but._..'

It's not really something Yusaku wants to think about, but a loss could end in a capture and then Yusaku's entire operation would be compromised. If they took Playmaker, it's possible they could decide to pick apart his data and eventually find their way back to he and Kusanagi. Worse still, if they discovered Playmaker's new A.I. program...

Yusaku bites his lip.

With Playmaker silent and Ai sulking, Yusaku uses the opportunity to dash to the rooftop and ducks into a secluded corner (oddly enough the same one he found Aoi in a while back). He makes to login to the Link VRAINS server out of habit, but pauses and turns a questioning gaze onto Ai.

"Is what you did reversible? Can the A.I. program be removed?"

Ai glances up at him and squints. "Technically? But the code would never be the same."

"Explain."

Ai sighs. "He's his own person now. Kinda like me only not as smart. Stripping the program would be excruciatingly painful. He'd suffer like a lot. You can't give life to a doll and then expect them to be okay with having that taken away. It's like, you know, murder."

"I...see."

The whole concept of data having free will is still strange to him and he's not 100% convinced any of it is real. Still, the thought of hurting something in such a way, his own creation at that, makes him feel incredibly uncomfortable. He doesn't know what to do about this situation and somehow he doesn't believe Ai would be entirely willing to revert the damage he caused regardless.

Yusaku sighs in resignation and leans against the nearby wall. 

"...if it helps? He won't lose any duels." Ai offers when Yusaku remains silent. "You've got the best dueling A.I. ever created right at your fingertips! And he'll even do whatever you say."

Yusaku's forehead pinches. 

"To my understanding, you've given him a self-learning A.I. program." He sends Ai a look. "That means he can learn to disobey."

Not only disobey, but he might even turn against him. The thought causes a spike of anxiety to flare up and Yusaku shifts uncomfortably. The more he thought about how everything could go wrong, the more he wished he never captured this thing. He knew he had to because Hanoi wanted it and he wanted Hanoi. Taking the Ignis (Ai) for himself was his best option, but even still. If he had known something like this was going to happen...

Ai brushes off Yusaku's concerns with a haughty snort. "If that's all you're worried about then don't bother! My program is 100% traitor-proof. He's capable of forming his own thoughts and feelings, but he won't turn on you. Trust me."

"..."

The withering look he sends Ai in response makes the eyeball huff. He puffs up as much as an eyeball can.

"Sheesh... If you don't believe me then just ask him yourself."

Oh Yusaku intends to. There was just the little matter of privacy, the duel with the Hanoi knight, and, well...

"He muted us." Yusaku points out.

"I'll ping him then. It's not like he can just _ignore_ his amazing senpai~"

" _I_ ignore you."

"That's because, you're mean."

Yusaku raises an eyebrow. "And Playmaker isn't?"

Ai splutters and then turns away in a huff. He grumbles something about Yusaku being unfair and then hums as he concentrates on contacting Playmaker again. There's a stretch of silence in which Ai makes a variety of odd expressions and Yusaku waits for something to happen, on edge. 

Eventually, Ai perks up.

"Bingo!"

A crackle of static spurts from the duel disk speakers, but once it clears, an apologetic Playmaker can be heard, a bit out of breath, speaking from the other side.

“I'm sorry about that. It wasn't my intention to keep you muted for so long.” Playmaker says in apology. "The Hanoi knight was a bit of a sore loser."

That didn't sound any kind of good. With Hanoi, winning didn't necessarily mean the fight was over.

"Are you alright?" Yusaku can't help but ask. He tries not to sound too worried and he's successful for the most part, but a twinge of his anxiety still slips through. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing I couldn't handle, oujisama." Playmaker's out-of-breath tone sounds pleased, almost fond. It makes Yusaku feel strange, but he dismisses it as a product of his anxiety acting up. "Thank you for worrying about my well-being, though. But really, it was nothing. The Hanoi knight tried to attack me after our duel, is all. He didn't get very far with that."

Yusaku isn't much of a hand-to-hand combatant in or out of Link VRAINS so he can only wonder what Playmaker must have done to stop the Hanoi knight. He almost sounded disappointed with the situation. 

“He didn’t really have any useful information, either." Playmaker continues. "Aside from an encrypted net address. I took it from him, of course.”

Yusaku blinks. Net address?

"What kind of address?"

"They look to be some kind of coordinates. I'm not sure to where. Everything is jumbled. Shall I decrypt it for you now?"

"A-ah, no. Not here."

Skipping another entire school day will likely send Kusanagi into a flurry of worry, but considering the circumstances, Yusaku thinks he doesn't have much of a choice in the matter. He--they--needed to leave and go home, but first, he had to know.

“Playmaker, what did Ai progam you to do? I want details.”

“Certainly, oujisama.” Playmaker always sounds different when addressing him and Yusaku doesn’t know what to make of it. “I was told to protect you and to obey your every command. I'm also to gather information on Hanoi, as they are an enemy that wishes you harm. Beyond that, I was also told...to help you relax? Senpai says you overwork yourself.”

Yusaku sends Ai a look. Ai does the eyeball equivalent of a shrug.

“I mean you do.”

“I was fine on my own."

" _Suurrre._ "

A bell chimes in the air, pulling Yusaku from his glare and reminding him of where he was. After checking the time, he realizes he's missed his first class and now had a study hall period. He could use the opportunity to slip out of school unnoticed.

"We'll talk more about this later." Yusaku says. "I can't risk anyone overhearing the both of you talking."

"Rude." Ai grumbles.

"No problem, oujisama."

The difference in them is like night and day and Yusaku shakes his head a little before he has them end their call and heads back downstairs. Unfortunately, while attempting to nonchalantly meander the halls towards the exit, the school counselor stops him. Or, rather, he walks into her.

"I-I'm sorry..."

"Oh, Yusaku!" she says, a touch of surprise in her voice. "In a bit of a hurry today, are we? Hee hee~ How are you today?"

She adjusts the books in her arms that were jostled during their collision and brushes a long strand of dark brown hair behind her ear, a friendly smile on her lips. She's a very kind lady and one of the few outside of his inner circle (that really only consisted of Kusanagi and his brother, Jin) that knew about his anxiety issues and frequent panic attacks. She's one of those people that doesn't ask too many questions and always makes sure the people around her are in good health, both physically and mentally. Yusaku likes her well enough, but running into her now is a terrible bit of timing.

"Mrs. Nakashima...sorry for running into you." he apologizes but she waves it off with a tiny giggle. "I wasn't feeling too well so I wanted some fresh air."

"Oh no, you poor dear." She glances around to check for eavesdroppers and then leans in, voice dropping a bit. "Was it another attack?"

"Sort of."

She straightens, a sympathetic look on her face.

"Why don't you rest in the nurse's office for a bit?" she suggests and reaches out to place a hand at his back. "Have you eaten anything yet? Lunch isn't for a while... I'll get you a snack. Come!"

Yusaku tries to resist, albeit weakly. "It's...really not necessary."

"Nonsense. You need to rest." She reaches up to ruffle his hair a little and offers a smile. "I'll see about letting you go home early, but in the meantime, go and lay down in the nurse's office and have a snack. What do like? Fruits? Chips? Melon bread?"

Yusaku sighs in resignation. He wasn't getting out of this.

He might have been imagining it, but as the counselor led him down the hallway and towards the nurse's office, he swore he heard Ai snickering at him.

 

\--

 

Convincing both the school nurse and Mrs. Nakashima to let him leave the nurse's office was an ordeal, but Yusaku managed, somehow. They wouldn't let him leave until he had eaten something and the nurse had checked his vitals. His respiratory rate and his pulse had been a little high, but after assuring them he would go straight home and rest, they relented and let him leave.

Yusaku did not immediately do that, however.

He got as far as the courtyard until everything that had transpired within the past 24 hours all crashed in on him at once. He stopped and took a rest on a bench, which is where he currently was staring off into space. He wanted more than anything to go to sleep, wake up, and discover that everything had all been a dream, but he knew that couldn't happen.

"What do I do?" he finally mumbles to himself, eyes closing.

It's relatively quiet here. Maybe he could take a quick doze...

"Coffee or juice?"

Something cold touches his cheek and he jumps, eyes flying open at the sound of a voice. He glances up only to find Zaizen Aoi standing before him with two cans held in her hands. An awkward silence passes as they merely stare at each other and Aoi ends up repeating herself as she presents Yusaku with two options.

"Do you prefer coffee or juice?" she reiterates and lightly shakes each can as she announces what each are. "I don't know what you like so..."

"...coffee." Yusaku finally says.

Aoi nods to herself and thrusts the can of coffee into his hands. There's then another awkward pause before she takes a seat beside him. It seems too late to tell her that he doesn't like cold coffee.

"My brother told me you were the one to find me on the roof." she starts. She fiddles with the can of unopened juice in her hands. "I wanted to say thank you."

Yusaku just hums. "I'm sure anyone would have done the same."

Aoi hums as well. "I suppose."

They sit like that in another awkward stretch of silence, neither opening their drink cans and neither daring to move or otherwise disturb whatever this is between them. Eventually, though, Aoi finally takes a breath and turns a little more Yusaku's way.

"Fujiki, may I ask you a question?"

Yusaku honestly has no idea what this could possibly be about. "Yes?"

A light breeze rustles the flower petals scattered across the ground. Aoi fiddles with the can in her hands, hair gently swaying in the wind, and quietly spills her question while studying the juice label.

"You're Playmaker, aren't you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we all know the correct answer to Mrs. Nakashima's question is hotdogs

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: Playmaker's ID number is the RGB code for the lavender color of wisteria!


End file.
